The Calm Beginning - Events out of Order
by navydave32
Summary: The adventures of the blue-skinned, red-eyed man known as Emrik continue as he serves the maturing Empire. He struggles as he learns his new family of fallen Jedi known as "Inquisitors" and his masters, the Dark Lord of the Sith. While he quietly fights to understand what is happening around him, he continues to do what he did best: train and lead men.


Author's Note:

This particular story is indeed happening out of order with the first installment of The Calm Beginning. When the events between the first installment and this are complete and published, this will be reorganized in place with those chapters. Enjoy!

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"The Hidden Meaning behind the Work is Seen."

Emrik walked through the narrow, crowded street. He scanned the area with his eyes and cautiously probed with the Force for his prey. The street opened to a large courtyard with a fountain in its middle. As he walked long its edge, he subtly scanned the entire area. Movement in the direction of laughing and cheering of children caught his attention. He looked to see what appeared to be a Gungan from Naboo playing, no performing, in the water fountain. The children cheered and laughed as the Gungan jumped around, slipped, fell on his butt, and otherwise made a fool of himself, like most Gungans.

He redirected his attention to a slight tremor in the Force. He reached out and probed it. As the Inquisitor felt the Force signature of his prey ahead of him, he moved through the crowd. He closed on his target. His eyes were attracted to a cloaked figure. The hood had two tall tips on either side. Was this a Twi'lek? As he closed, his target moved out of the crowd off toward one of the side vendors. He subtly moved out as well. He saw the figure reach out and grab a piece of fruit. He walked up and stood beside her.

"You're a Force user," Emrik said low enough for her to hear. From the corner of his eye, he saw the curved design of a lightsaber.

"Under the authority of the Empire, I am," he paused as she turned slightly, revealing half her face.

"You know, I already killed one of your brothers," his target said with the authoritative yet soothing tone of a woman's voice. The accent of her voice, the inflection of her words, he immediately recognized her.

"Ahsoka?" he said unconsciously. This was Ahsoka Tano, the ex-Jedi Padawan and supposed rebel sympathizer known as "Fulcrum". She met his eye and instantly examined, classed, and identified him.

"Mit'teem," she paused as she scanned his body. "You're taller than I remember."

"I," he began to say in his Inquisitor adversarial tone, but his subconscious stopped him. He softened his tone. "I grew up."

She examined him from the corner of her eye, already in a veiled, yet defensive posture. She could feel that he was no longer divorced from the Force but instead deeply involved and familiar with it. It exuded from him. She could tell he was extremely formidable and dangerous.

"I never would have guessed you for joining the Empire and working for a Sith Lord." Another long pause passed as they both waited for the other to strike first. Instead, Emrik picked up a piece of fruit and examined it as well. He took a deep breath and let out a sigh.

"So, what are we going to do?" he asked. "Are we going to fight? Are you going to come with me? Is one of us going to kill the other?" He set the fruit back down and turned his head enough to look down at her with both eyes. Then he noticed how much taller he was than the last time he saw her, but he also knew that meant little in a duel between Force users. Ahsoka spoke with a confident voice.

"I figure it's your choice, Inquisitor," she said. He picked up another piece of fruit and took a long moment as he examined it for its ripeness.

He justified it in his mind. He made his decision.

"Technically, you were never a Jedi, and I don't know for sure you're the rebel sympathizer known as Fulcrum. So, again, technically, you are not my prey," he paused, and she watched his red eyes scan the area, "…but listen to me closely," he whispered. "There are nine more of us." He replaced the fruit and grabbed another and began casually examining it. "You have already fought and killed one. He was the most aggressive and careless."

"And you?" she asked.

"I think you know," he said.

She flicked an eyebrow. "I would expect nothing less," Ahsoka said.

"The rest are very capable. They are dangerous." He considered all things as he squeezed the fruit. "However, you could likely out class them, but understand if they come for you, they will come in numbers." He replaced the fruit and looked over the other fruits before them before picking up another. "You will have to give it your all." He smelled the fruit. "Do not let up for an instant."

"Thank you," Ahsoka said in a flat tone as she absorbed what he said while remaining aware and on the defensive.

"There is a rumor that Darth Maul is still alive," he said.

"I know," she said. She had seen him at the very end of the Clone Wars. After he had been run out of Mandalor, Ahsoka had teamed up with Obiwan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker one last time to fight Maul. After that failure, Maul had disappeared.

"Our master is very skilled and very dangerous."

"The Sith Lord," she said as more a statement than a question.

"Yes."

"Who is he?" she asked.

"Vader."

" _Who_ is he," she said with an emphasis.

"I don't know his origins, but he must have been a very powerful Jedi."

"He couldn't be Anakin, could he?" she asked in a soft, somber, almost knowing tone. Emrik furrowed his brow and examined the thought. Could he? He openly examined the idea. That had never occurred to him, but it both would and would not explain a lot.

"Skywalker was killed on Coruscant under Order Sixty-Six defending the Jedi Temple," Emrik said. Ahsoka turned to him and met his eyes.

"Was he?" she asked. The statement hit him hard enough to shake his defenses, but Ahsoka did not act on it. That was a powerful thought. Could Anakin Skywalker, the Chosen One, have become a Sith Lord and the Enforcer to the Emperor? He never would have expected that.

He saw how mature her features had become. Her Togruta head tails were much taller than the last time he had seen her, all those years ago. He noticed she didn't just have one saber, but instead two, like during her years in the Clone Wars.

"Look," he said. She looked blankly in his direction gauging if he was going to attack, but he stood neutral. "You are the only person I hold in this regard. You are my sister under Plo Koon." She looked up and met his red eyes. "Today, I lost my target in the crowded space port. You were able to slip my grasp. But understand, if we meet again, and I am with others, you will either join the Empire, or it will be the endgame for one of us."

She looked down almost in regret.

"Fair enough, Mit'teem Ri' Kleeoto," she said. "I want to leave you with this. The Jedi had dogma. So do your masters. Both are flawed. Don't lie to yourself. Don't simply rely on feelings. Find the balance between reason and your gut. Use your brain, and you might have a chance to survive." She set the piece of fruit down and abruptly ended the conversation as she walked away. Emrik watched her melt back into the stream of people coming and going and disappear in the crowded spaceport.

"May the Force be with you," he said under his breath. A long moment passed as he watched the mass of people move, trying to catch one more glimpse of her, one more glimpse of his past, but she was gone, and so was it.

"Oh," Emrik heard a voice in a breathy whisper over his shoulder. "Yousa bombad Force user." He quickly reached out with the Force and probed for a threat as he turned, but he felt nothing. As he came about, he was surprised to see the Gungan from the water fountain sanding a safe three meters away, leaning against a wooden post that supported the overhang. The golden eyes atop its optic stocks were looking directly at him and nobody else. It stood wearing a wet, modest vest and leather pants with its arms crossed across its chest and its long, wing-like ears hanging behind its head. Is smiled subtly at him. "Yousa dark side user," it continued. Emrik probed the Gungan again with the Force but felt nothing, it was almost like it was a void or…a shadow…in the Force. It flared its eyes. "Yousa mui, mui powerful dark side user."

Emrik physically studied this Gungan. It took a trained eye to determine the distinguishable features between members of this species.

"You're from Naboo, are you not?" Emrik said. It stood stone still, watching him back. "What is a Gungan doing on Ryaida?" Emrik asked. It pulled a half smile.

"Mesa banished, but that's fine," the Gungan said. "I fulfilled my task." Emrik continued to study the Gungan. "Plus wet climate," he said with a roll of his eyes overhead, "isa good for mesa skin."

Emrik continued to interrogate the Gungan with his red eyes. "What is your name, Gungan?" he asked.

"Mesa have gone by many, many names," the Gungan said. Emrik wasn't going to have any more of this cryptic talk. He surged the Force through the Gungan's mind.

"You will tell me your name."

The Gungan softly laughed as he smiled, bearing his teeth. He blinked and moved his eye stalks in a circular, amused motion.

"Force tricks no work on me, Force user." The Gungan stood unphased and let his lips close back around his teeth leaving the small but confident smile. With a finger from his crossed arm, he motioned toward the lightsaber hilt on Emrik's right thigh. "Yousa Imperial Inquisitor, no?" Emrik narrowed his eyes slightly. "Yousa work for Palpatine."

A long moment passed between the two. Emrik could not get any kind of read off this Gungan. It was as if he wasn't even there. He was skeptical but intrigued at the same time.

"Itsa been a long, long time since meesa seen Plapi. How is he?" the Gunan asked. Emrik continued to interrogate the Gungan. He ripped into him with the Force but again felt nothing. Who would have the gal or audacity to refer to the Emperor as Palpi? "Or should messa say, Sheev?"

Emrik picked up the subtle hints the Gungan was feeding him. Emrik continued to study the Gungan and ripped through, deducing the logic in his head as only his people could. Blocks started falling into place. Could this be Senator Binks, the representative of Naboo, the being blamed for the empowerment of the Chancellor to Emperor be standing before him? Could what was credited as the careless mistake of a bumbling Gungan…have actually all been by design? The Gungan pulled half a smile again as if he was reading Emrik's mind.

"You're Senator Binks," he said flatly. The Gungan widened his eyes and placed his free hand on his chest.

"Whosa? Messa?" he said in a more excited and animated tone shaking his ears and wobbling his head back and forth. "Oh, no, no, no," he said as he chuffed a laugh and re-crossing his arms. "Or perhaps." He settled back into his previous subtle state and narrowed his golden eyes. "Mesa just a nameless street performer scraping by for mesa munches." Emrik stoic and ran through the logic, considering other options, but no. This was him. The Gungan pulled a half smile and finally continued. "'…Immediate emergency powers to the Supreme Chancellor'," he said in a low, slightly animated tone. "The hidden meaning behind the work is seen," he said. Emrik arched the corners of his eye brows in a rare, unconscious reaction.

 _No way,_ he thought. That is exactly what Senator Binks said before the Senate that fateful day when Chancellor Palpatine was given ultimate power.

"Politicians have the mooie weakest minds," the Gungan said. Emrik recoiled his head a centimeter. He could not believe what he was hearing. Was this a power all Gungans had that no one ever knew? The Gungan motioned to the crowd Ahsoka had disappeared into.

"Yousa had better be more careful, dark side user. Compassion is forbidden. Yousa would not make it to the level of your masters." Emrik felt raw, almost as if his defenses were stripped from him. His eyes danced across the Gungan's face searching for a read but still finding nothing. Then he responded, in an almost unconsciously whisper.

"There is no room for another. There are already two," Emrik said. The Gungan widened his eyes and spoke in low, breathy whispers.

"Oh, yousa familiar with the teachings of da Bane." He wove his free hand and shook his head slightly again. "The mooie grand rule of two." He paused and settled his gaze upon Emrik again. "Whosa said your masters follow sucha archaic rule?"

Again, a long moment passed. What was this Gungan – perhaps former Senator Binks – telling him all this for? Why was he standing in such a defenseless posture? How did he lay out such detailed history and what would have been exclusive knowledge with such unflinching confidence? How was it that Emrik could not feel him in the Force at all? How did he know of the Rule of Two and then disregard it with such ease and confidence?!

Again, he raced through the logic.

There was only one explanation that could answer these questions, especially with the tone of the conversation. Emrik leaned in slightly toward the Gungan and asked in a low tone.

"Are you a Sith Lord?"

The Gungan narrowed his golden eyes atop their stocks, chuffed several laughs under his breath…and fell silent. Emrik straightened his neck in slow recoil and looked at the Gungan slightly out the corner of his eyes. Still with his arms crossed, the Gungan softly tapped the index finger of his free hand on his left upper arm. Now, any mixed, confused accent disappeared from the Gungan's speech.

"We all play our parts, Inquisitor. Jar Jar Binks brought Shive Palpatine to power. Shive established order across the galaxy. Now you enforce that order." He paused for another moment as the Gungan, unruly and uncoordinated only thirty minutes prior now looked at him with narrow, confident eyes.

"The clown!" the voices of children broke the dark conversation. "Bring the clown! We want to see the clown!"

"Uh, oh," the Gungan said as he bounced himself off the wooden post and stepped out from under the overhang. "Wesa all serve out purpose, Inquisitor," he said with the signature confused Gungan dialect. He walked away from Emrik bobbing his head as he walked. Then, in an unbelievably acrobatic jump, he flew into the sky, _as if aided by the Force!_ He twisted in the air and landed amongst the group of children with precision calling his name.

"The clown! The clown," they all yelled. The Gungan made eye contact with Emrik one last time and wagged his arm over his head in a very animated, goofy motion.

"Good luck!" he shouted over the cheerful shouts of the children. "Yousa gunna need it!"

Disoriented by the entire experience, Emrik backed away from the spot where the conversation had taken place. In his haste to distance himself from the shadow, he stepped backward and turned to run into a meat market stand. With slabs of meat swinging from the ends of hooks, he steadied the cart and apologized.

It had been a long time since he had been this unsettled. He realized the possible depth of events, of such a conspiracy, the Crisis on Naboo, the Clone Wars, the rise of Palpatine, the Empire…was far beyond anything he could have imagined. He moved on and did his best to meld into the crowd and return to his ship.


End file.
